DAMASCUS ROAD ENCOUNTER
Digital Art in Procreate

"As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do"
Acts 9:3-6

Before he became the Apostle Paul, Saul the Pharisee was the most zealous of the believing Jews. He was so confident in his knowledge of the Jewish law and his unreserved obedience to it, that he had become extremely prideful. You see, Saul had been all about himself and his own righteousness. In seeking to be right before a holy God, his own performance was his total focus and his ability in doing everything right was his salvation. He had heard of a growing group of people claiming that Christ, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah had come and died on a cross for their sins. This inflamed Saul's sense of self-righteousness even more and he became outraged! In his blind arrogance, he took this offense so seriously that he began to persecute the followers of this "Way" mercilessly, dragging off Christian believers into prison, torturing them, and even putting them to death. And here he was, hand to sword, face set like flint, riding toward Damascus to fulfill his "righteous" cause for the "One True God" when... the real One True God showed up.

Knocked off the back of his horse by a flash of light from heaven and the literal power of God, Saul's whole purpose for existence became realigned. God changed his name to Paul, which means small or humble, and over time, transformed this murderous, performance-driven man into a joyful, loving, devoted follower of Jesus Christ. God chose Paul to write several books in the New Testament and he spread the good news of the gospel wherever he traveled. He had lost all confidence in his own "goodness" to gain him any credentials with God. He had put his faith in Jesus' work on the cross and had received God's forgiveness, unconditional love, and acceptance to such a degree that he wrote these words: "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith." Philippians 3:7-9

If God can lovingly redeem a man like Saul, then there is no one He would reject. If we would humbly seek Him for His gift of righteousness through Christ and lay down all of our anxious and prideful attempts at being "good enough" He promises to meet us right where we are and bring his redeeming love and salvation.